Secret Santa 2021 - Story collection

[ProfAllister]

Posting on behalf of MoashLannister(Detective Emo). I'm still working on mine.

PsychicSpy (Freelancerga) Prompt: It’s Christmas time and since the tragic passing of Nakai, the school has gotten stricter about students being out at night. Two or more students sneak out and celebrate the Christmas spirit


Yagami had his eye opened even at the call of curfew, an occasion that has been occurring more and more often lately. Though tonight, it was on purpose as the brief light coming out of his room came to a close, a silent declaration of curfew. Now the only thing that illuminated the room was his window, which was locked shut due to the new school regulations. From the view of his bet, he could see the snow pouring down, almost like rain.

“It’s the most…wonderful time…of the year~” He sang in a celebratory tone, trying his best to keep quiet despite wanting to belt out the song off the top of his lungs. The third year student knew that being too loud would inevitably summon the wrath of the security guards, and that a reprimand would be considered a blessing compared to what could potentially befall him, as rumors that were discreetly confirmed could attest to.

Occasionally the darkness coming from the openings on his door illuminated, the light of a patrolling guard and his flashlight. It came routinely enough that he could deduce when it would appear the next time, spending his waking hours memorizing the pattern, as did several other students he knew. Some out of boredom, others out a hope of sneaking around what was supposedly a dorm but was more accurately a prison. Yagami was of the former mindset, wanting something to keep his mind occupied before he inevitably passed out, but not today.

Another seven minutes before the next time the light would pass through his room. Three more times, and it would be his turn. Yagami just had to trust that the others wouldn’t be caught, otherwise they’d lock down this building on an even greater scale, making escape virtually impossible for the students.

While waiting, the young man tried to recall what his life had been like before his fateful arrival at Yamaku academy, fresh off an accident that saw fit to completely destroy half of his face. With the knowledge that other students here had suffered far worse, up to and including conditions that would prove lethal in a few decades if not years, he figured that being blind, deaf and horrifically scarred on one side of his face was comparatively rather pleasant as far as disabilities were concerned.

And it wasn’t as if the school did not come with its own share of benefits, as it certainly had facilities that far outstripped the ones of his old high school. The food was really good compared to what he had been accustomed to, and there was certainly a sense of comfort and independence he had felt living on his own instead of with his parents, who continued to fracture following his accident.

Of course, such a freedom had its cost, namely in many other freedoms that he had now taken for granted. Ones that he would give a lot to obtain.

At first, it didn’t seem like much. There was a curfew in place, and students were discouraged from exiting school grounds without an escort. He felt as if those restrictions were reasonable, if a bit annoying at times. But as he spent the better part of two years here, he began to realize just how demorazing those rules could truly be, especially in how they enforced them.

Students who had violated those rules were immediately suspended, and punished by having their actions closely monitored and regulated, from the moment they wake up to the moment they were to be escorted back into their rooms after class. Even worse, the names of those students were often posted onto bulletins in the school hallways, as if to shame them.

Those draconian rules have only gotten worse in the coming months, with punishments for disobeying intensified, though not enough for it to cause a public scandal. It started with the perpetrators getting sectioned off into their private classes, unable to interact with anyone other than what the school calls ‘deviants’. Soon guards were posted both in the school compound and the dorms, ensuring that they had eyes and ears everywhere, and each one completely unsympathetic to whatever plights the students might have.

Even if the transgression was as minor as being late for class by a measly few minutes, such an act was considered a crime of the highest order, let alone more serious ones such as outright truancy or disobedience. Students bearing such crimes would quietly disappear, some permanently while others returning in a much more docile manner, unwilling to reveal what they’ve gone through to induce such a sudden change.

A friend of his was one such a case, though now their relationship was strained, with barely a word said between them. It induced a sense of horror in Yagami, which equalled his rage towards the school for its dictatorial methods, though the sight of guards and the potential punishments forced him to conform to their rules.

Though not today, on one of the most important days of the year. Despite being a holiday, the school was not in the same celebratory mood, though the students were allowed to exit the grounds so long as they came back in time. It wasn’t much, especially considering the fact they had to return only a scant few hours into the evening, but it was enough to at least to prepare and coordinate their little plan.

A plan that could have them face expulsion, or worse, but it was a plan nonetheless.

Light began to peer from the doorway once again, and Yagami needed to wait two more times for his moment. He wondered how exactly did Yamaku turn out this way, as his seniors said it was a far more welcoming place before, something he could scarcely imagine.

From what he could gather from the rumor mill, it involved a student falling to his death, which he admitted was a tragedy and a fair reason to impose precautions against another incident occurring. But at the same time, the school went way too far in how it tried to do so.

His eye immediately widened as light crept into his room from the doorway, far earlier than he expected. Did the guards change their patterns? Was someone caught sneaking out? Surely not, considering how loud the last of such incidents were. Regardless of the reason, it unnerved him enough to ponder if he should follow the plan and exit his room the next time it happened.

Even as he was questioning whether to go through with it, Yagami finally got off his bed and reached beneath it, revealing a box wrapped up tightly. It was missing a bow and a tag, but there was no mistaking it for anything other than a present for Christmas.

And with a simple look at that, he steeled himself. It might have been a simple holiday to some, but to him it was a time to be happy, and he certainly would not be if he did not at least try to celebrate it that night.

“Twenty seconds after the next light passes.” He said, a declaration that was heard from no one other than himself.

For the fourth time light passed by his room, and he hoped that it would be the last he would see tonight, counting the seconds in his mind. His body tensed as it reached the door, box in hand as he readied to open in, hand on the doorknob. Yagami turned it without trying to make even the slightest noise, and peered the door open to see the dark hallway outside.

This was the moment, and there would be no going back. The door’s small opening grew until he was able to slip through it, before quickly closing the door shut to prevent future guards from suspecting anything. He took the fact that he even got a single step out without being caught as testament to the success of the other’s escape.

Which meant that if he himself got caught, their rooms would certainly be searched, and their absence would be found out and punished. It was a thought he hoped would encourage, and not burden.

Inch by inch, Yagami made his way towards the entrance, fear creeping into his heart as the silence and darkness of the dormitory at this hour began to unnerve him. The fact that he couldn’t see any light was a double edged sword, as it meant that a guard wasn’t present, but at the same time it left their position completely unknown save for where he roughly predicted them to be.

So he prayed with all his heart that those predictions were correct, as he walked extremely carefully towards the entrance.

“Four, five, six…” Yagami whispered to himself, the sound barely audible even to him. When he finally reached the number he was looking for, his body immediately turned to the left and opened the door, revealing an empty bedroom similar to his. It was too dark to make out any real differences, though the layout was mostly the same, and he entered it and shut the door as quickly but quietly as he could.

It was the room of one of his friends, the architect of this plan that was so insignificant, yet so important at the same time. As a consequence of being farther from the entrance than any of the others, Yagami had to hide due to the fact that he couldn’t sneak past the entire hallway without being seen. This was the first, though certainly not the last.

His heart was beating extremely quickly, and he could feel it thumping loudly in his chest as he waited for light to pass by this room. For a few seconds Yagami was afraid he might suffer from a heart attack, and with his hand he clutched his chest to calm himself, to little effect.

Before he saw the light pass by the doorway, he heard a noise from the guard, which almost caused him to scream. They were usually silent to a very unsettling degree, so for him to hear something from them was unexpected. It ended up being nothing more than that, and as the light passed by he held his breath.

Another twenty seconds counted, he opened the door and emerged from the room, making way towards the entrance of the building, carefully counting just how many doors he had passed. Once again he hid in the room of another, waited for the patrol to pass by, and slipped out. It was almost like a routing, one that got him closer to freedom each time he repeated, but also one that had less and less room for error.

The last time he was supposed to hide, he caught a glimpse of a flashlight as he was heading towards the door, causing him to panic. Despite managing to enter the room, Yagami made enough noise to almost be certain that someone had heard it, and his thoughts immediately turned towards what seemed like his inevitable capture.

He waited for the guard to shout that someone was sneaking out past curfew, for him to rush towards the door and demand it’d be open, or to force it open anyways. Miraculously, neither of these things happened, and light passed by the room without incident.

Yagami thought it was impossible. The guards have been very keen to anyone sneaking out previously, so how did they miss him? Was it simply luck? Or were the guards more lax due to the holidays?

Regardless of the reason, he composed himself and quickly exited a room for the final time tonight, and headed towards the entrance. It was a surprising fact that it wasn’t locked or even guarded, save for the people on patrol that occasionally watches over this area. Yagami didn’t think much of it, simply chalking it up to a guess that the school couldn’t justify spending so much money on security.

With a push of the doors, he was greeted by snow blowing towards his face. He was free at last, and that fact almost made him scream in joy. With reckless abandon, the young student quickly ran towards the prescribed meeting place with the box still in his hand, where his Christmas celebrations could truly begin.

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The meeting place was, seemingly against all logic, inside the main school building itself. Upon hearing that was the location where they would all gather, Yagami nearly backed out of the plan, but ultimately his desire to have fun and disregard the rules convinced him to agree. As he approached the building and opened the main doors, he was met with the place he had entered and exited on a daily basis, now lifeless and empty thanks to the late hour.

And even then, it was still preferable to how it normally was, with students too afraid and unmotivated to talk to one another. He could almost see lifeless looks in their eyes as they went about their day, thinking of nothing else but the desperate need to conform to the rules set in place, even if they hated it more than anything else.

Not wanting to linger on such thoughts, Yagami simply walked towards the stairs and onto the second floor, then walked down a series of hallways to reach another set of stairs leading to the rooftop. It wasn’t a place he was familiar with, but the directions proved simple enough for him to be approaching the door leading to it in short order.

As he reached the rooftop, he saw that it was covered in snow, acting as a white blanket between his feet and the floor below it. Right in front of him were a circle of people gathered around something that was glowing brightly. At first Yagami thought it was a fire, but it turned out that it was merely a collection of candles in approximation of one.

One of the people around the circle noticed Yagami’s arrival, and raised his hand in recognition. “Alright, the last of us is here! Yagami, come on and join in already.”

For the first time tonight, the fear in his heart has been quelled, replaced by a sense of relief that everyone made it without being caught. He quickly rushed towards the circle and took his place in it, sitting down as he looked at the people around him, friends who similarly despised the despotic rules the school put in place.

Starting from his left there was Aru, who wore a very thick looking red overcoat with a hood that covered the top of his face. In his hand was a thermos, which he poured to one of the others, revealing that there was hot chocolate inside.

“Want a glass?” He asked in his usual stoic voice, his expression just as rigid and stoney. “Thermos is almost halfway empty.”

“Yeah, I’d love some,” Yagami responded, and he quickly poured one into a paper cup and handed it over to him, which he took and took a sip off. The warmth that filled his body reminded him of how he loved drinking such beverages during wintertime, especially in the company of others. “Thanks, it’s really good.”

Beside Aru there were two people exchanging tales with one another, though one used his voice while the other had another method, typing out words in his phone before revealing it. Kato and Chozu were the pair that was closer to each other than anyone else, having the benefit of knowing each other before Yamaku, in a similar place that dealt with disabled students.

“Hey Yagami, can you believe this guy? Says he’s going to ask Shirogane out on a date.” Kato said, legs crossed in a manner similar to a meditative position, his hands resting on top of his lap. They didn’t move much, on account of being excruciatingly painful for him to do so, though they were not useless. For him to even sneak out, which surely meant that he had to use his hands, was just further evidence of how much he disliked the constraints placed upon them all.

Chozu simply rolled his eyes, his expressions being the best way to convey his intentions due to his muteness, though he relied on written words for more complex stuff, which he did so now using his phone. [She’s deaf and I’m mute, so we get along quite well. I see no problem in telling her I’m romantically interested.]

“I wish you the best of luck,” Yagami replied, trying to balance out Kato’s teasing with genuine encouragement. “Though honestly, I can’t see how a relationship would work inside a school like this, and how stifling it is.”

[Others managed to get by,] Chozu responded, his fingers a blur as he typed out the words, and his expression full of optimism. [And it won’t be long before graduation, so assuming she reciprocates my feelings, we’d only have to endure a year or so.]

“I don’t know, man,” Kato muttered out. “A year here feels like a freaking eternity.”

At that, Chozu didn’t seem to disagree, and their expressions turned more dour. Yagami found himself at a loss for words, and simply turned to the right, towards the ringleader of this entire operation.

“I see you brought a present…” Shigeru said with his ever present smile, one that he showed whenever the opportunity arises itself. Amongst his friends, it served as a source of comfort against the almost overwhelming bleakness of the school, and it almost seemed to be in defiance for what most people perceived as an attempt to keep the students miserable.

While he has drawn the suspicion of the school faculty, nothing he ever did was against the rules, and it would be ridiculous for even them to put a ban on smiling. Which is why it came as a bit of a surprise when he suggested doing this for Christmas, which was tantamount to an open act of rebellion.

“Yeah, I did,” Yagami responded and presented the box to him. “We’re doing a present exchange, aren’t we?”

“In a bit, right now all of us should just relax and shoot the shit,” Shigeru responded with a sigh, his body leaning back. “God knows how long it’s been since we’ve been able to do that here, without feeling like someone’s watching us.”

“Honestly, it feels like they’ve never let their eyes off us,” Yagami admitted, and looked back to the doorway, half expecting to find guards bursting out of it any second. “I’m still surprised I was even able to leave my room without getting caught, let alone come this far out.”

“Calm down, if they’d have half a hint, we’d all be dead by now.” Aru interjected, pouring more cocoa into Shigeru’s glass, which he raised in appreciation.

“Yeah…” A voice to the right of Shigeru said, wearing a black hoodie that covered most of his face. It was then that he realized that he didn’t know that was.

“Um, who are you?” Yagami asked curiously, having a bad feeling about this mysterious person.

“Relax, Yagami,” Shigeru insisted as the person shifted back, acting as if it were threatened, though considering what he looked like Yagami wasn’t too surprised. “His name is Goto, and he’s an underclassman, but we know each other through the computer club. He heard about what I was doing, so I let him sneak into my room and escaped with him.”

“Pleased to meet you…” Goto said, his voice hoarse and rough, as if his throat were dry. “Sorry for coming here unannounced.”

Despite having a bad feeling about his presence, Yagami simply dismissed it as irrational paranoia and simply nodded in response.

“Heh, you need to stop scaring people, Yagami.” Kato teased, causing him to turn towards his friend with a frown on his face.

“Yeah, help me fix half my face and we’ll talk.” He responded wryly, rolling his singular eye.

“Come on, it’s not just your face that makes you intimidating, though it definitely helps,” Kato said, and Aru and Chozu nodded in agreement. “A lot of the students here look like you, maybe even worse, but you manage to make even them flinch when you stare at them.”

“That’s not true…” Yagami denied, trying to recall the faces of people who looked at him as he went about his school life, but was unable to see if they truly were afraid of him or not.

“No! No!” Shigeru said, raising his hands before hesitantly adding. “...Well, maybe a little.”

The rest of the group burst out into laughter, though Aru offered a comfort hand towards Yagami, who simply chuckled at their jabs. They were close enough friends that such things were common, and everyone knew that there was malice in their words. The only exception was Goto, who remained quiet throughout.

“Anyways, I think it’s time for the present exchange,” Shigeru announced. “Everyone bought your gift?”

The group nodded and pulled out their boxes, all wrapped to hide its contents. Once again, the exception was Goto, who did not seem to have one. The others noticed and turned their attention to him, which made the younger student shy away further.

“Sorry…” He said nervously, causing the rest to feel guilty.

“Don’t worry, Christmas isn’t just about presents,” Shigeru said, giving him an encouraging smile. “It’s about spending time with people, and being happy. So seeing you smile would be a good enough gift, at least for me.”

“Heh, playing the hero as always…” Kato teased.

“Someone’s got to, especially with how oppressive the school’s being.” Shigeru responded with a shrug, as if it were natural to him.

[Does anyone know why it’s like this?] Chozu asked, his expression a mix of curiosity and disgust. [An environment like this, something akin to an authoritarian regime, can’t simply happen out of nowhere.]

“Yeah, from what I’ve heard from the older students, this place was actually pleasant to be in,” Yagami reaffirmed his claim, though finding such a statement to be extremely difficult to believe. “Apparently it had something to do with a student falling to his death or something, but I don’t know for sure.”

“Sounds like a pretty dumb reason to herd us all like sheep,” Aru practically spat out, disgust evident in his voice. “Curfews, constant monitoring. Hell, I hear they’re trying to cut down on lunch time…again.”

“What?” I’ll barely have time to eat!” Kato said distrestingly. “Man, they just find a way to make things worse.”

“...Nakai.”

The four students turned to the source of the voice, curiously looking at Goto. whose expression was far less frightful than before.

“The student who died, his name was Nakai…” He clarified, his face tilting downwards. “He died falling off this rooftop, on a night like this. That’s why the school’s…what it is…”

There was a dead silence as the group processed this new information, now realizing that this place was where someone spent the final moments of their lives before dying, the morbidness of that fact prevailing.

“Anyways, let’s start our gift exchange already. I’ll go first!” Shigeru said, trying to lighten the mood once again as he gave his box to Aru, small and wrapped in red paper. Aru bowed in thanks and ripped it open, revealing it to display what seemed like a robot with wings.

“Oh damn, a Gundam!” Aru exclaimed excitingly, holding up the box to get a better look. “Damn, this isn’t just any ordinary model either. Where’d you get this?”

“I have my ways,” Shigeru answered with a rather cheeky smile on his face. “Cost me a pretty penny, but as long as you’re happy, it’s worth it. Have fun building that thing.”

“Man…thanks…” Aru said, even sniffling a little. “You’re the best friend anyone can ask for.”

“I don’t know, I’d think you want a friend with working kidneys,” Shigeru responded wryly as he made light of his own condition. “Anyways, time for your gift, Aru.”

“Alright, alright,” Aru said, and handed a box that was far smaller than the one he got, and immediately shoved it into Chozu’s hands. “I got something that’s just for you.”

Chozu nodded in appreciation before destroying the paper, revealing a small black device with several keys and a screen. Raising an eyebrow, he fiddled with it for a bit, and what happened next was enough to surprise everyone except for the one who gave and received the present.

[Hello? Is this working?]

The voice was extremely synthetic, and the enunciation of it was slightly off, but the machine was crystal clear in the words it relayed out of its speaker.

“Whoa,” Kato blurted out, still in shock. “Isn’t that a text-to-speech machine? Like the one that wheelchair scientists use?”

“You mean Stephen Hawking? I think his machine uses a different kind of voice,” Aru responded using the machine, clearly enjoying the use of it. “I think I might prefer this one, it sounds far more feminine and comforting.”

“Sounds a bit creepy to me,” Yagami pointed out, emphasizing the inhumanity of the voice. “Still, it must beat showing everyone what you’ve typed out, huh?”

“That’s what I had in mind when I bought it,” Aru said, sounding more than a little smug at his thoughtfulness. “Of course I wanted to get a more advanced model, but I don’t have that kind of cash on me, so you’ll have to settle with that one.”

[That’s perfectly fine,] Chozu responded, and raised a hand towards Aru, who quickly high-fived it. [I guess that means I can now laugh when you guys make your bad jokes, hahahahahahahahahaha…]

“God, please don’t do that,” Aru said, raising his hands to his ear, though the others also made their reaction to the machine’s attempt at laughter plain on their faces. It was more akin to a staticy whine or screech than true laughter, one that made it sound even more inhuman and creepy than usual. “Just say you’re laughing…”

“Agreed…” Shigeru added, his smile breaking momentarily.

[Fine…I am laughing,] Chozu conceded, though Aru’s face was still the only one smiling, suggesting he truly was amused. [Thank you, Aru. It’s a really thoughtful gift.]

“Well, let’s hope yours is just as thoughtful, huh?” Aru responded, and Chozu pulled out his box, not as large as Shigeru’s gift but larger than the machine he received. He extended it towards Kato, who wasted no time tearing into the paper, revealing it to contain a collection of books.

[I know you’ve been reading that manga whenever we go to the library, so I’ve taken the liberty of buying something from the same author,] Chozu said as Kato’s jaw was open. [It’s not the complete collection, but it’s a good starting point.]

“Damn, I’ve heard of this one,” Kato exclaimed as he pulled out one of the manga, the cover showing a boy with blue hair holding a vial of red liquid, in what seemed to be a fantasy manga. “I’ve always wanted to read this. Thanks, man!”

[Just don’t read it right now,] Chozu said with a roll of his eyes. [You still have your gift to give.]

“You’re right, you’re right,” Kato grumbled, gazing at the manga for a few seconds before placing it back in its box beside the others, and reaching for his own. “Yagami, this is for you.”

The box he handed Yagami wasn’t a box at all, as it had a more cylindrical shape to it. Nevertheless he ripped the wrapping paper open, and it was revealed that it was a tin containing something which made him feel extremely nostalgic.

“You always said that you ate cookies with your parents during Christmas,” Kato said, his voice quieting. “I can’t exactly bring your parents here, but I can at least provide you with some cookies…and you can eat them right now, if you want to.”

Yagami couldn’t help but be touched by the gesture, and stared at Kato, usually the most rambunctious of their little friend group. He simply gave him a wide grin, which was returned in kind.

“Thanks, I…honestly can’t explain how much this means to me,” Yagami uttered in appreciation, remembering the Christmases of his past, times spent snuggling against his parents as they ate and laughed together. It might not be the same, but he felt as if the spirit of the memory were still with him. “Uh…right, my gift.”

Last but not least, Yagami gave Shigeru his box, which was opened soon after to reveal a case containing a pair of something small with wires connecting them. A pair of earphones.

“Oh, I’ve been looking for a pair of these,” Shigeru said, clearly ecstatic with his gift. “I never got around to replacing my old ones.”

“I know, which is why I got them. Underneath it is the second part of my gift,” Yagami explained. “There’s a few CDs inside that case. Some of it I bought myself, others I haven’t used in a long while, so I figured I might as well give it to someone who might.”

“Aww, thanks,” Shigeru placed the box beside him before turning his head to look at everyone. “Heh, turns out this Christmas ain’t so bad after all.”

Yagami couldn’t help but glance at Goto, who neither gave nor received a gift, and looked as if he were a separate entity from the group as a result. Looking at the tin of cookies he received, the young student quickly handed it over to him, who looked confused at the gesture. The others took notice, with Shigeru looking on in approval.

“But…this is your gift,” Goto said, shaking his head. “I can’t…”

“I can get these cookies whenever I’d like,” Yagami responded, to which Kato couldn’t help but frown at the statement, however true it might be. “Christmas is about giving, so I figured it wouldn’t be right until everyone here has gotten something.”

“I…I can’t,” Goto repeated, shaking his head once again. “I don’t…deserve…”

“It’s not about deserving,” Shigeru interjected. “Giving is about thinking of someone, and wanting to make them happy. Go on, take it.”

“He won’t take no for an answer,” Aru added morosely. “So you might as well say yes now and save us some time.”

Despite still having some reluctance, Goto took the tin and hugged it, looking away as he barely whispered out the words. “Thank you…”

“Well, that concludes the gift giving,” Shigeru announced. “I suppose we’ll all just…drink what’s left of the hot cocoa and wait till we can head back into the dorm.”

Before any of them could react, the entrance to the rooftop burst open as several men flooded in, causing the group to panic as they stood up. They were soon surrounded by what were clearly enforcers, all wearing guard uniforms with a cold and apathetic expression on their faces.

Their hearts sank as they realized that the worst had happened, and that they had been caught breaking the rules in such a spectacular fashion. None of them even had the opportunity to question when or how they managed to find out before the guards quickly went to restrain them, grabbing everyone but Kato’s hands, who instead was grabbed tightly by the shoulder.

“Well, well, well, it seems that you’ve finally slipped up.” A chilling voice called out as someone entered the room, dressed in a suit and tie despite the climate, with an aged but bitter expression. They all immediately recognized that voice, as they’ve heard it countless times in announcements and admonishments of the student body.

It was the principal of Yamaku, a figure that inspired within his students hatred, resentment, and fear most of all.

“I’ve finally been given a reason to punish you,” He said in an arrogant voice, his eyes aimed at Shigeru in particular. “You’ve been a thorn in our side for quite a while, and while you have certainly been prudent in following the rules up until now, the faculty was more than aware of your…defiance towards how we conduct things around here.”

“Well, glad to know I’m famous,” Shigeru spat back, having the audacity to talk back, though the others were still frozen in fear. It earned him a twist of his arm by the guard, to which he grunted in pain. The principal simply laughed, completely amused by his statement.

“Famous enough that we’ve been keeping our eye on you for a while,” He conceded. “And it seemed to have paid off, considering this…gathering of your conspirators.”

“Punish me all you want, but leave them alone,” Shigeru insisted, sounding desperate for the first time. “They were just following my lead.”

“I’m aware. Why do you think you were caught?” The principal asked, approaching Shigeru and slapping him across the face with a gloved hand. “But they need to be taught a lesson as well. They need to learn what happens to people that refuse to follow the rules. All except one, that is…”

He motioned his head towards one of the guards, who let go of Goto, still carrying the tin of cookies as he approached the principal. That simple act was enough for the others to realize who exactly had informed the school of their plans, and had been their pawn from the very beginning.

“You son of a bitch!” Aru screamed out, only to be silenced when the guard holding onto his arms began to twist it. Shigeru simply stared at Goto with a disappointed look and a sigh, while the rest simply looked on in anger at the betrayal.

“C-Can I go now…?” Goto asked shyly, the guilt evident on his face. Even so, he knew there would be no forgiveness for what he had done, even if he felt forced into doing so.

“Yes you may,” The principal responded, sounding oddly kind to him. “You’ve done a marvelous job in catching these deviants, and I’ve informed the guards at the dorm that you’ll be coming, so they won’t harass you. Rest assured, you did the right thing, and will be rewarded in doing so.”

Goto merely nodded, still looking conflicted as he walked towards the entrance. After turning to look at the others one last time, seeing their eyes still full of hurt and loathing, he left the rooftop and headed back to his room.

“Now then,” The principal turned back towards the other students, looking on with venom in his eyes. “What should I do with you rascals? Certainly something that would ensure you won’t break our fair rules ever again.”

“That’s never going to happen,” Shigeru responded, finding courage in his heart. “As long as the school is what it is, students will never stop disrespecting it.”

“We’re ensuring your safety,” The principal countered calmly. “It’s necessary to provide you all with a safe environment within our walls.”

“By taking away all our freedoms?”

Shigeru’s words caused the principal’s eyes to twitch ever so slightly, not to mention the baring of teeth. It’s clear that he managed to strike a nerve, though even then the principal was more than happy to retaliate. Something that would burn the memory of this event into them.

“Allow me to inform you of how I’ve managed to come by my position,” He explained as he took several steps towards Shigeru, hands reaching to grab his head, ensuring that the student had nowhere to face but towards him. “My predecessor happened to be well liked by all. Faculty and students alike respected him, but unfortunately it took a simple scandal to destroy that respect. No doubt you’ve heard of it, a boy falling to his death from a rooftop, on a day of celebration much like this one.”

“They all blamed his lack of responsibility, and so he was quickly ousted from his position, where I came to fill the void. Naturally, to placate the parents who entrusted the students to our care, I had to change things. To prevent a tragedy like that from ever occurring, and to ensure that our students have a future. But they refused to cooperate, protesting and defying authority at every turn, even when we had the best of intentions. We let the first few infractions slide, but as more and more piled out, I knew we had come into a crossroads. Either we sacrifice our ability to keep them safe, or any semblance of mutual cooperation with us. It wasn’t a hard choice to make, given their inclination towards childish defiance already.”

A silence permeated throughout the roof as students and guards alike grew quiet, with even Shigeru having nothing to say.

“Of course, I knew there would still be those who still wouldn’t get with the program, and so I made use of the tools given to me,” He seemed particularly arrogant at that statement, even letting out a snort. “Turning the students against each other, planting some of them as my own eyes and ears. This wasn’t the first time Goto has been of use to us, and I doubt it would be the last, whatever his reservations may be. All I need to do is provide a good incentive, and he’d be more than willing to sell out anyone to me.”

His speech was interrupted with a buzzing of his phone, and he swiftly picked it up. “Speak…ah, it’s finally ready? Good, expect it to land soon.”

With a swift motion of the principal’s head, the guard holding Shigeru began to forcefully move the much weaker boy, and despite his resistance he managed to push him all the way to the edge of the roof and pressed his face against the chain link fence.

“Yes, I believe that’s where that student fell as well, a gap created in the fence,” The principal said, slowly and calmly walking towards the fence, even as Shigeru began to shout in protest. “Naturally, fixing it was our top priority, even if we were barring students from accessing it in the first place. Still, considering that no one was supposed to come here, we didn’t exactly put much effort into it…”

Kneeling down near one of the thin fence posts, he reached down towards one of the metal pegs holding it in place, and simply pulled it out with some effort. Already the post began to lurch, though it was when he removed the others beside it that it truly felt unstable. Rising up, he grabbed the fence and moved backwards, pulling it back along with the post attached to it.

Leaving a wide gap where there were no safety precautions in place, merely the edge of the roof and the sky beyond it.

Not needing to be told, the guard holding Shigeru immediately pushed him towards the edge, letting go. Whatever resistance or defiance that filled him was immediately gone as he was dangerously close to the end of the rooftop, and what he thought was the end of his life when he looked down.

“That student died because he wasn’t following the rules, and we failed to enforce it as much as we should,” The principal explained, turning to the other students. “It’s only fitting that history should repeat itself. You’re all willing to let him die, if it means you get your precious sense of freedom?”

The looks on their faces ranged from horror to bafflement to muted anger, but none of them dared to respond. None of them dared to risk Shigeru’s life.

“AM I RIGHT?” The principal roared, face twisted into a scowl. “IS THIS WHAT YOU’RE WILLING TO RISK?”

Shigeru wanted to reassure them, even if it was a lie. But the words were stuck in his throat as he was mere inches away from a gruesome demise, unable to find the courage when faced with that. One by one, the others shook their heads, the seeds of compliance sewn into their hearts.

“No?” The principal reaffirmed. “Then here’s what’ll happen. All of you will go back to your rooms, and from tomorrow onwards will follow the school’s laws to the letter. You hear me? To the letter.”

It didn’t take long before Aru slowly nodded his head, the resistance snuffed out of him. Kato and Chozu followed soon after, with Yagami the only one that didn’t answer the question. A part of him still wanted to refuse, to fight back against what was so obviously an unfair situation.

All it took was one look at Shigeru’s back to change his mind, and he nodded as well.

“Good, you’ve finally learnt to conquer your rebellious impulses,” The principal praised, even clapping to emphasize the matter. Though when his hands stopped, his face turned even more menacing. “…Although, there’s no point of a threat if you don’t intend to follow up on it. Just to ensure you know what it means to disobey rules.”

The principal nodded towards the guard preventing Shigeru from safety, and with both hands pushed the student off the edge of the school, which utterly broke the others as they struggled and screamed to no avail. The principal simply regarded them with cold eyes and motioned the guards to take them away, which they did despite trying to thrash about. It wouldn’t be long before even that final act of disobedience would fade, and would be replaced by despair and a newfound necessity to conform.

With them gone, the principal simply sighed as he let go of the fence, the guards moving to place the metal peg back in its place. Looking over it, he could see Shigeru landing on a safety mat that was placed not too long ago, though the trauma seemed to have frozen him more than the cold did.

He knew that he was broken like the rest, though he took little pleasure from it. It was all necessary to keep them safe, he told himself.

With the operation done, he simply headed down the school, ready to go home and spend a long overdue Christmas with his family.

END

[brythain]

From me to Lap for 2021 (finally, sorry)!

Have a story about a cold night and warm food, and maybe something extra.

https://ks.renai.us/viewtopic.php?f=52& ... 97#p248297

[Lap]

Thanks, Bry, that was a delightful little romp! And better late than never—good things are worth the wait. Now on to ‘22!

[ProfAllister]

Samosa Surprise


The beep of my alarm liberates me from a bizarre dreamscape.

Groggily, I slap the snooze button and extricate myself from the bedsheets. Throwing on some warm pants and a grey hoodie, I prepare to face another miserable cold snowy day.

On cue, the moment I leave the room I'm greeted by the chorus of disengaging locks from my neighbor across the hall. Kenji.

You wouldn't think it, but he's my only real friend in this godsforsaken hospital prison. A bit eccentric, but it grows on you after a while.

Believe it or not, he's the least insane inmate of this lunatic asylum. I still clearly remember the rollercoaster of moonbats that was my first week at Yamaku. Not that everything worked out seamlessly with Kenji, mind you. It's because of him that I learned that drunk people are practically immune to getting injured from falling. The nurse gave me an earful for that whole mess, but it all worked out in the end.

"'Sup, dude."

"Not much. Just had a weird dream."

He begins sweating. "You mean like you're constantly reliving the same day in an endless loop, never changing no matter what you do?"

Classic Kenji.

"Nothing like that. Just the classic flying around naked while your teeth fall out because you slept through an exam."

"Oh. Lame."

"Totally."

We stand there for a moment, basking in each other's manliness, then I shrug.

"Anyway, I'm off to go fight the power. Keep it real."

"Always do, my man."

*****

"Hiiiiichaaaannnn~!"

Great. Little Miss Can't Take A Hint Even If You Beat Her Upside The Head With It.

"What is it, Misha?"

"Do you know what today is~?"

"International freeze your balls off day? Because I'm actively observing it."

"Ahahaha~! No, silly~! It's Christmas~! A day for love~! And fried chicken~! Wahahahaha~!"

Also Little Miss No Volume Control.

"A fake holiday imitating a fake holiday imitating something about some guy no one cares about?"

Uh-oh. I've angered the pufferfish.

"Hicchan~! Shicchan says this is why you can't get a girlfriend."

Yup. It must be my winning personality, and not the fact that I'm strictly observing the policy of not sticking it in crazy.

"Any~way, I just wanted to let you know that there's still time to find yourself a Christmas sweetheart! Word around the dorms is that you're a hot com-mod-it-y!"

"Noted. The girls in this school are embarrassingly desperate. Film at eleven."

"You're so weird, Hicchan."

...And she's gone. Good riddance.

*****

Every day that can be imagined to have even a remote connection to romance, they swarm. Like locusts. An endless interrogation of whether I know what day it is, whether I have a special someone, if I have any plans, and so on. It's enough to drive a man crazy. And so it goes, today is yet another gauntlet of dodging inquiries, hiding away, and coming up with lame excuses about how I’d love to do something, but am already committed to something else. As it is, I’d rather watch a documentary on paint drying than spend one more minute with these shrieking harpies than necessary.

Somehow, I make it through, and think with relief as my head hits the pillow that I’ve got another two months or so before I have to deal with this shit again.

*****

No sooner did that thought complete, it feels, I’m woken by the beep of my alarm.

December 25th? I must’ve forgotten to change my calendar yesterday. Advancing to December 26, I throw on some clothes and step out the door.

“Sup, dude.”

“Same old, same old. Just survived another holiday of being targeted by the Pink Militia. Good thing Christmas comes but once a year, eh?”

“Dude, yesterday was the 24th. Christmas is today.”

“...really? I could swear I just went through it. Must’ve been a dream.”

Kenji takes a step closer, staring intently as if there were a secret message in my nostrils.

“Or was it? Hmmm… If this happens again - you waking up on Christmas and thinking you had a dream about living through Christmas, let me know. I’ve got a plan.”

“Uh. Sure, whatever, man.”

*****

"Hiiiiichaaaannnn~!"

Damn it. She’s so annoying that my dreams have captured her essence perfectly.

"What is it, Misha?"

"Do you know what today is~?"

Let me guess, it’s Christmas, a day for love and getting even fatter by eating a bucket of grease?”

"Ahahaha~! No, silly~! It's… Oh, wait~, that’s what you said…”

As her brain catches up, her face falls.

“Did… did you just call me fat?”

“No, I’m perfectly sure that you’re at a healthy weight for a manatee.”

Her face goes through a series of expressions as she tries to puzzle out how to respond. She eventually settles on imitating a pufferfish before storming off.

“You’re so mean, Hicchan~!”

Bullet dodged.

*****

And so the day continues. And the deja vu piles up. Have the girls gotten so predictable that my dream accurately predicted their every move? Strange as that sounds, it’s the only logical explanation. Fortunately, that makes it easier to have less of their bullshit to deal with.

*****

And, with a beep, I’m awake. Two Christmases in a row was more than enough. I’m glad it’s over for real now.

December 25th? I could’ve sworn…

“Sup dude.”

“It’s Christmas today, isn’t it?”

“Uh… yeah? I think so. Why?”

“I just had a dream where I lived through Christmas, then woke up to find that it was a dream, and I lived through it again, exactly the same way.”

He begins sweating. "You mean like you're constantly reliving the same day in an endless loop, never changing no matter what you do?"

“... that’s what you asked me on the first day of my dream, because I told you that I had a weird dream.”

His eyes dart back and forth. “Quick, dude, come inside. We need to talk.”

As I step inside, I’m assailed by that oppressive wall of stench that fills his room. LEt’s hope this is quick.

Rifling through the mess that is his “strategically defensible” room, he emerges with a binder labeled “Situation #867”.

“You’ll need this.”


I open it up to see a long checklist.

“Learn the true meaning of Christmas, learn the true meaning of Hanukkah, learn the… What the hell is this?”

“I’ll give it to you straight, dude. It’s possible that you’re in some sort of penitential time loop. Someone out there has decided that you need to repeat this day until you get it right.”

“...right.”

“Look, you don’t have to believe me this loop, but eventually, you’ll be looking for solutions. I’ve prepared for just such an occasion. But this is also a perfect opportunity to level up your skills.”

“Level up my… what?”

“You’ve got an endless series of days, and you remember it all. So you can learn sweet ninja moves and shit. Isn’t that awesome?”

“...”

“Anyway, it’s here if you want it. Just tell me ‘samosa surprise’ - that’s the code phrase. I’ll be ready, and so will the Plan.”

*****

I was skeptical, of course, but figured by the sixth Christmas that, somehow, he was the closest answer to what was going on. Since then, it’s been… a lot of Christmases. Years upon years upon years. With no way to keep track, I’ve lost count. 84 years? 42? Over 9000? No idea. Kenji’s plan has been my only tether to sanity, tenuous as that may be. As the Plan directed, I’ve learned the true meaning of all adjacent holidays, even ones that required me to endure hours of an unfunny sitcom from the 90s just to understand. I’ve mastered such random and assorted skills as various forms of martial arts from local dojos, underwater basket demolitions, origami, and carving ice sculptures with chainsaws. I’ve successfully seduced just about the entire campus, which, to be honest, was an uncomfortably easy feat to achieve. And yet I’m still here. Suicide is out, too - there have been enough accidents, coincidences, and pissed off girls to assure me that death is no escape. And so I continue down the list.

Today’s objective is… “try the fish sandwich”. May as well.

There’s nothing particularly special about it. It doesn’t look especially appealing, and there are several more appetising options, but it’s not like it’s some repulsive borderline inedible eldritch horror.

I take a bite. It’s not bad. Not great, either.


Finishing my meal, I continue the rest of the day in what I have calculated in my endless iterations to be the most satisfying way possible.

*****

Good morning, alarm beep. What shall we do this Christmas?

…my calendar is marked as December 26. That’s new. Could the nightmare be over?

“Sup, dude.”

“Today’s the 26th, right? Not Christmas?”

He immediately becomes alert. “Congratulations, dude, you finally escaped! What was the key?”

“Well, I don’t know. I was on ‘try the fish sandwich’, but there’s no way that makes sense. I guess I just got lucky somehow.”

“No, no, that explains everything. Thanks, man, this is exactly what us men needed to win the fight against the Feminists once and for all. Good work, soldier. You’ve got liberty for the rest of the day.”

“Sure, whatever.”

Feeling elated in my escape from what had become an endless nightmare, I spend the rest of the day enjoying the fruit of a brand new day, and all it has to offer.

*****

Another new day, another beep.

…December 25th? What the fuck?

“Sup, dude.”

“Kenji, what is this shit? I had a dream of an endless Christmas, then I finally escaped, and now it’s Christmas again?”

“Don’t worry, dude,” he assures me, with a confident grin, “That means everything is going according to plan.”




This is an exceptionally belated fulfillment of my original prompt, courtesy of Mirage: "One or more of the main KS characters get stuck in a time loop and experience Christmas day repeatedly."

I absolutely love this kind of narrative, which turned out to be a problem, because I wanted to do it justice. And so I kept avoiding finishing it. But, after much delay, it's finally here. Merry Christmas!

[Mirage_GSM]

Thank you very much!
I was actually quite hesitant to give out this prompt last year, because by it's very nature it would be hard to complete it in a relatively short manner.
So I think it was quite the hard assignment, but you completed perfectly.
The twist at the end leading to the open-endedness were particularly effective in keeping it to a reasonable length - and I liked both, too!

[Downix]

I am a year late with this, and for that I apologize. I'd had most of it ready last year, only to fall down the stairs and nearly break my leg. That led to a Covid-19 infection, longCovid brain fog (seriously, mask up, stay away from this damned disease), grandmother dying, so... Secret Santa kinda slipped my mind.

Thank you to the Prof for reminding me. This is without a beta, so don't mind the errors. I will be curious if you can spot the three paragraphs I didn't have finished before my misadventures last year:

Victim: NoticeMeOppai (Naryzhud)

Prompt: In a Christmas Miracle your favourite character becomes unkatawaed. How do they react? What do they do?

With the cacophony from his door, the repetitive strokes wake Hisao from his slumber. Grumbling he cracks the door to peek out, he finds not the thick glasses and garlic breath of his hallmate, but the bob cut and glasses of someone else instead.
Glancing left and right, the lack of a particular pink haired foghorn stands out.
“Where’s Misha?” he asks, before realizing how dumb it was to say out loud. Grabbing the notepad by his door, he writes out the question before holding it up to the student council president.
Lifting the pad out of his hands, with a flourish she scratches out the answer, handing the pad back to the boy. “At home with her family.”
“Shouldn’t you be home with yours?” Hisao writes out.
Huffing a bit, Shizune writes out, “I have to take care of the lost sheep who didn’t go home for break. Make sure they don’t hang out in their room the whole time.”
Sticking his head out of his door, the boy stares at the ‘Keep Out’ sign on the other occupied door in this hallway.
“He’s gone home, in case you didn’t know,” she writes out with a smirk.
Sighing, Hisao accepts his fate. Not bothering with his notepad, he says out loud, “Fine, you win.”
With the smirk of victory, Shizune turns in place and starts off, the boy trailing close behind.
The eerie silence of the snow covered terrain punctuates that almost everyone had headed home to Hisao as he follows his companion. Everyone that is but a shock of red hair hustling down the walkway quickly.
“Hey Rin,” he calls out to the girl.
With lazy eyes, the girl looks to him and says, “You’re still here.”
Shizune turns to watch as the pair exchange greetings, only to watch Rin swiftly move past the boy, her conversation finished.
“Yup, never change, Rin,” Hisao mutters to himself before spotting the amused smirk on the other girl’s face. “Oh ha ha, laugh at me. Don’t know why I’m bothering, you can’t hear me anyways.”
Clearly satisfied, the girl continues on her path; the school looming over them in the winter snow.
Stepping inside, the sounds of light festivities wafts through the hallway from the cafeteria. Within, a handful of kids are chatting in a corner, a lot of empty tables, Miki is chatting with a girl he remembers named Orie from second year, Emi is dancing by herself in front of a boombox.
Looking over the buffet table, the boy finds himself shadowed, still, by the student council president.
Ever since summer vacation, when Lilly dumped him and ran off to Scotland, Shizune has been quietly there. But while she could have rubbed him being the fool he was in his face, instead she never brought it up.
Hisao would have preferred it if she mutely judged what was a doomed relationship, or better, rubbed his face in how foolish he was. Instead, she was just there, quietly waiting for something.
Moving to an empty table by the window, he finds the seat next to him occupied. Fighting the urge to snap at her, he settles for a sigh.
Still unconvinced Shizune can’t read lips, Hisao turns to face away from his shadow to talk.
“You know, I wonder at times how things could have gone differently. I think it was that first Wednesday, when I defended that… girl. Maybe if I hadn’t, I would not have wound up manipulated like that. I still wonder why you looped me in then, just like I’m wondering why you’re bothering with me right now,” he grumbles.
When he turns back, he finds the girl with a sour look on her face. When Hisao is fully looking at her, she snaps her fingers and points at his notebook.
Snatching it from him as he pulls it out of his pocket, the girl hurriedly writes down, “Nobody should be alone for Christmas,” before tossing it back to him.
Considering a moment, Hisao sighs, and says “Thank you,” before realizing how dumb that was and reaches for the pencil.
With a quick motion, Shizune slides the writing instrument away, and with a playful glint in her eyes snatches the writing pad back as well.
“Well, how am I supposed to talk to you then?” the boy asks, a bit frustrated.
She considers, then holds her hands out, palm up, gesturing him forward.
With much confusion, he mimics the pose, only to have his hands grabbed and forced into position. Forcing his hands flat, she maneuvers them so his right hand is resting on the back of his left wrist. Then with a jerk, she makes his hand tap it quickly before letting go.
“That’s how you say, ‘Thank You’,” she writes out.
Understanding, he repeats the gesture, saying to himself, “Uh, okay.”
Shizune sits back, the smug expression appearing like always before taking her notebook and setting it down in the middle of the table, pencil on top of it.
Hisao picks up the pad and writes out, “I’m surprised you’re not with your family.”
“They’re out of the country,” she writes out in clean, sharp letters, a sour expression on her face. “I don’t agree with the decision, so I chose not to go, before you ask.”
“I haven’t seen you around much lately,” he writes down.
Shizune’s response is a curt, “I’ve been busy with post-graduation plans.”
“Decided which school to attend?” Hisao asks in the notebook.
Sliding her glasses up, she nods. “The offer from that school in Vienna is just too good to pass up.”
“So far…” the boy’s voice drifts off as the thought of someone else moving to Europe sinks in. Catching himself, he changes the topic. “Going to be near family?”
With a shake of her head indicating negative, she scratches out, “Absolutely not.”
Glancing around the room, Hisao says out loud, “You know, haven’t seen Hanako for a few days. I was expecting her here.”
Looking back, he sighs, and writes down, “Was looking for Hanako.”
As she reads it, Shizune’s eyes widen slightly before a frown settles in and she writes out, “She didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Sigh a long sigh, she stands up, and gestures for the boy to do the same.
Leaving the room, Hisao finds himself led into the girl’s dorm. Pausing at Shizune’s doorway, the boy is nothing but confused why she brought him here.
With the sharp snap of her fingers, he jumps in place, before slowly leaning in and looking around. Within the room, he finds the girl holding up an envelope.
Crossing the floor cautiously, like a cat expecting to be chased off by a troublesome dog, he takes the envelope, finding it unopened and with her name on it.
When he doesn’t do anything, she rolls her eyes and takes the thing, ripping it open and handing the card inside over to him.
Hisao recognizes the format as some kind of invitation. Written in English, the handwriting is immediately recognizable to him. Without meaning to, he begins to read it out loud, “You are her… hereby invited to the… wedding of Lilly and Teiji Satou…”
Across from him, Shizune stands, obviously angry as she writes out, “Miss. Ikezawa left with my father and brother two days ago. I refuse to deal with this farce.”
“But, how?” he asks out loud, shocked.
Understanding the question without needing to hear, she writes out, “Her father arranged it. That’s why he recalled her.”
When Hisao just looks confused, Shizune sighs, and pulls out a folded sheet of paper. Opening it, the title makes it clear, “Implanted sight restoration.”
Sight restoration.
“Lilly’s not blind anymore?” he asks, the world around him fading away in his shock.”She’s… fixed? She’s not broken anymore?”
When the world returned, Hisao was surprised to find his face buried into the blue haired girl’s shoulder, tears openly flowing down his cheeks. Now seated on her bed, he tries to stand up, only to find himself pushed back down.
“I should go,” he mutters, only for her to snap her fingers, forcing him to look at the girl. With a long sigh, she opens up her bedside table, and pulls out a notebook, opening it before forcing it into Hisao’s hands.
“What’s this,” he starts, only to get her pointing at the page, insistently.
Looking down, he wipes his eyes before reading the words on the page aloud. “I am not broken. I don’t need to be fixed. There is nothing wrong with me.”
He looks at the date, finding it almost three years ago. The beginning of April, just before school starts. The handwriting is clearly Shizune’s sharp, clear lettering.
“You wrote this? Why?” he asks out loud, not even considering her hearing loss
Her eyes dart to his mouth, and she nods. Taking another deep breath, she does something he has never witnessed before.
She clears her throat, making what is the first sound he has ever heard from her. Then, looking him dead in his eyes, she opens her mouth, and in a flat and odd sounding speech, says, “My father forced me to pretend that I was like everyone else. That I should be ashamed of my hearing. He wanted to fix me in his words. I wrote that down to remind myself, I am not broken.”
Poking my chest in the middle, just over my scar, she, probably unknowingly, reminds me why I am here. But as I raise my hand, she begins to cough, making an ugly face before grabbing the little notepad and jotting down quickly, “You are not broken either, and neither is Lilly.”
Standing up, coughing once more, she puts her hands on her hips with that all too smug smile on her face before writing down, “Now how about dinner at the Shanghai? My treat?”
Rubbing my own chest for a moment, I consider, then shake my head. Taking the pad away, I write down, “No, my treat.”
She reads that, smiles, and gives a single, curt nod.

Crossposted at AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/43845603






.

[Hacksorus]

Here's my year-late submission for Razoredge. I don't have a terribly good excuse, I just suck. I bent the rules of the prompt slightly, but it is my hope that I still retained the spirit of it somewhat. I wanted to get it out on Christmas(ish) so I didn't take the time to get it proofread. If anyone's feeling generous enough to offer constructive criticism, I'd appreciate it.

Prompt: A girl from the cast is slowly becoming alone since everyone is preparing something for Christmas and they leave her alone. What she doesn't know is that they are preparing something for her and they keep it as a surprise.


***

As I briskly stride through the hallway on the way to my destination, my elevated heart rate forces me to become cognizant of my needless haste, and I make a conscious effort to slow my pace. Taking a moment to reorient myself, I stop in front of a nearby window. Not much to speak of out there. The dull drizzle of rain, strong enough cancel my run with Emi this morning but not strong enough to form an interesting spectacle, continues to drag the day down. Emi had insisted with her usual optimism that we would have a beautiful white Christmas, but I think deep down we both knew not to get our hopes up.

Ah, Emi. Perhaps my rushed pace is a bad habit picked up from her. Ever since she took me to visit her father, we've been spending just about every waking minute together, much to the dismay of anyone unfortunate enough to be subjected to our presence; Emi is not shy when it comes to public displays of affection. As wonderful as this honeymoon phase of our relationship is, it's not without its costs. Some of our connections with other people have been left by the wayside.

When I went down to the track for our usual run yesterday morning, Emi was despondent. Apparently, when she went to help Rin in their normal morning routine, Rin was barely able to move. After practically dragging Rin to the nurse by the scruff of her neck, they found her to be suffering from serious malnutrition. But after bumbling through the bare minimum of excuses required to escape the nurse's office, she ignored Emi's protests and trudged on back to the art room.

"It's all my fault." Emi confessed to me. "I've barely been talking to her at all, let alone making sure she eats proper meals. I shouldn't have stopped having lunch with her."

"Come on now, this is just as much my fault." I reply. "And it isn't our responsibility to feed her anyway. Do you know what's been wrong with her lately?"

"I don't know." Emi said, dejection written across her face. "I think she started getting worse ever since she started working on that exhibition thing. I thought she was going to be happy, it went so well!"

Suddenly she turns her gaze up at me, preparing her puppy-dog look that I know she knows will work on me. "Could you please talk to her for me? You're already better at making sense of her weirdness than I am."

And thus, here I am in front of the door to the art room.

***

With some trepidation, I push the door to the art room open. Sure enough, Rin is perched in the same chair by the large window that she occupied the last time I saw her in here. No paintbrush being held this time, though. She just sits there in an awkward, stiff pose in front of what I can only presume is a painting she's working on. An awkwardness made all the more palpable by her complete lack of reaction to my entering the room.

It's clear that no salvation from this tension is forthcoming, so I suppose I'll be making the first move. "Hello, Rin."

She remains paused, only closing her eyes for a brief moment before slowly widening her gaze and slowly turning it towards me. Her auburn hair shows a dull, almost brownish hue from the muted lighting provided by a nearby window. Her hair seems to have grown a bit longer since our last meeting, her bangs reaching down slightly over her deep green eyes, and I have a feeling that this was not a deliberate style choice.

"Hi." She says. It's as though this room itself carries some restriction that requires us to speak in the fewest words possible. I venture forth regardless.

"Still hard at work, huh? It seems like everytime I see you, you're painting something."

This elicits a slightly puzzled look from her. "I thought people were supposed to paint here. You'd probably see me doing other things if you visited me somewhere else. In my room I mostly sleep."

Ah, well. Not quite the direction I was hoping this would take, but I suppose it's progress. I walk into the room and take a seat on top of a desk somewhat close to where Rin is.

"So how have you been, anyway? I haven't seen you in a little while."

She blinks once. "That's a hard question. I'm never quite sure what to tell people. Whenever I try and seach my head for an answer, it's like all those thoughts scatter in different directions. Like when you try to scoop fish out of a pond."

She looks out of the window, as if searching for an answer in the rain. "I think people think shooting fish in a barrel is supposed to be easy, but I'm not so sure that it is."

I'm not really sure what to say to this. I try another question. "Why are you here so late in the month? I heard from Emi that you usually go and see your parents over winter break."

"Nomiya thinks I should expand my portfolio for college applications. He told my parents that I should stay a little longer." This, in her characteristic stoic delivery. But somehow I get the feeling she isn't thrilled with this arrangement.

"Ah.. has the extra painting time been fruitful?

"Probably.. maybe.. not. Unless your definition of fruitful permits me sitting here for the past two days looking at this blank canvas. But if you thought that was being fruitful maybe you'd have even more problems than me."

Her surprisingly sharp eyes refocus on me. "How about you? Are you being fruitful?"

Her question, while probably asked with mostly innocent intent, nevertheless pierces me a little bit. I've hardly been here a minute and I'm starting to doubt if I have it in me to get through to Rin in any meaningful way.

"I dunno.." I reply with some honesty. "I don't think I'm very fruitful today either."

Silence, for a few moments. We both look out the nearby window and listen to the light patter of rain.

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas." Rin abruptly blurts out. "Or I was, I think. There's something nice about falling snow, snow on the ground. It's like my worries fall out of me and have a soft place to land."

"Hmmm.." I hum in reply.

"I like the rain, but it feels out of place." She continues. "Like when you have dessert for breakfast and you know whatever you eat next isn't going to be as good. I wish I could put the rain in a box and save it for another day."

"I think I understand," I reply. "I have a lot of fond memories of snow this time of the year."

Rin turns her head back to the empty canvas, staring into its emptiness with a vacant expression. I guess I'd better get to the point.

"Emi and I are leaving for break tomorrow evening. We'd like to have lunch with you before we go, if that's okay with you?"

Rin keeps staring at the canvas.

"Alright." She says with what I think is some hesitation. "Please leave me alone now. I'm going to paint. Maybe."

Deciding not to press my luck, I say my goodbye and leave Rin to her acrylic-smelling prison. But as I leave, I am struck by a flash of inspiration. Maybe there's something I can do after all.

***

"This is so cool! We've really outdone ourselves with this one." Emi's merriment was as evident in her gait as it was in her voice as she bounded down the cramped stairwell in a series of playful jumps. Part of me was worried she might hurt herself, but I knew by now how light she was on her artificial feet.

"We?" I retort, semi-sarcastically. "This was completely my idea."

"Don't be silly, ideas are just ideas. Without my help, there's no way this thing would have gotten off the ground. I'm in a good mood though, so I'll let you take 50% credit." She spins around at the base of the landing and winks at me.

I suppose she has a point. What we've done was completely unprecedented, absolutely outside of school rules. If it weren't for most people having already cleared out for winter break and Emi being close with the nurse, who was thoroughly amused by the idea, I can't imagine getting permission for it. Really, there were a lot of logistical annoyances that should have stopped this, but once I told Emi my idea she loved it so much that nothing, it seemed, would get in her way.

Emi was leaning back on the wall at the base of the stairwell now, stretching her hands above her head, waiting for me to finish my descent. "And thanks to my professional training, you were able to carry all that equipment up to the roof all by yourself!"

"Wouldn't have killed you to lend a hand." I sigh lethargically as I take my last steps down the stairwell.

"But you were doing so well!" She grins playfully at me. "Besides, making my boyfriend carry stuff for me makes me feel like a real lady."

"Sure, sure." I step up to her and playfully pinch her nose for a second. "I bet your mother would get a real laugh out of that one, after she was scolding you for chewing with your mouth open at dinner last night."

Emi puts her hands on her hips, shooting me a slightly defiant glare. "A real lady knows to thoroughly enjoy every meal."

"I guess I can't blame you, that food was delicious." I reply.

Emi and I chat in the hallway outside the stairwell to the roof for a little while, passing the time waiting for Rin to show up to this meeting place. Emi has been studying more advanced nutrition recently, both for her own training as well as her career prospects. I find it pretty interesting as well, so we've spent a decent chunk of time discussing it and coming up with meal ideas. Eventually, Rin comes around the corner and lethargically makes her way towards us.

"I hope we aren't going to be eating lunch here. I'm not very good at eating while standing up." Rin sizes us up a little bit. "I notice you don't have any food. Is this one of those interventions I've heard about? Where you surround someone you care about and try to convince them to stop being a drug addict. I promise I've stopped with the cold medicine. I'm also pretty sure you guys wouldn't be able to stop me even if I was an addict."

"No! Of course not!" Emi replies. "And if you ever become an addict you better believe I'll do worse to you than an intervention. I'll beat you up and shove those drugs up your ass before you even know what hit you."

"Even if it's one of those drugs that you're supposed to shove up your ass?" Retorts Rin without missing a beat.

"Er, well, I guess not those ones." Emi sighs. Rin may be the only person I know who can regularly defeat Emi in a battle of words. "Anyway! Enough about that. We're having lunch on the roof."

"On the roof? I know I've been annoying you recently, but I think giving me hypothermia is a little excessive." Rin replies.

"Don't worry, we've got plenty of warm food and drinks," I chime in. "Let's just give it a try. If we don't like it we can come back inside."

And with that, we begin our brief ascent up the stairwell. If Rin suspects anything is strange, she doesn't give it away. At the top of the stairwell, Emi opens the door for Rin to walk through. She takes a few steps forward and stops in her tracks.

As I catch up to the two girls, I can see Emi grinning from ear to ear. As I look back upon the surroundings, I notice that I'm doing that too. The roof is a true winter wonderland. A layer of brilliant snow sprawls out around us, enough to feel the crunch beneath one's feet but not quite enough to be annoying to step through. I was satisfied to leave it at that, but Emi went ahead and hung up a bunch of green-and-red decorative lights as well, and I'm appreciating the added effect now.

Well, if I'm being honest, maybe winter wonderland is a slight exaggeration. It's still a school rooftop on a cloudy day, after all. The consistency of this artificial snow is a little different from the real thing. And if you look over the horizon, the lack of snow anywhere else is a little hard to ignore. But I think this is pretty neat, and I hope Rin does too. She's still standing there, stock-still with her back to me, so I can only wonder.

"..Huh? How?" Rin mutters, just loud enough for us to hear.

"It's artificial snow. We rented a portable snow machine and got permission to run it up here for a while." I say.

"Well? What do you think?!" Emi is jumping up and down with such vigor that I fear she may accidentally launch herself over the protective fencing.

It seems Emi will need to wait a little longer for her answer. Wordlessly, Rin takes a few more steps forward into the snow. She walks with measured precision, as if the snow will break if she isn't careful with it. Finally, she turns around and plops down on her back, staring up at the sky from her bed of snow.

Emi and I exchange quizzical glances. We've never been able to predict Rin's next move, and I suppose we're not going to start today. After a moment's trepidation, we both walk over to Rin, standing over her a little bit but not so much that we block her view of the sky.

Emi ventures her next question. "Aren't you cold?"

Rin looks up at us with a serene smile on her face. "Yeah."

***

After we eventually convinced Rin to get up and put on the jacket we brought for her, we brushed the snow off our nearby seats and began our lunch. Hot chocolate and one of Emi's new health food creations, a banana and chocolate chip oatmeal bake. My protests to Emi that this might have been too much chocolate, as usual, fell on deaf ears. The food, preserved warm in our insulated containers, provided a wonderful contrast to our chilly surroundings. It was a carefree lunch, blissfully reminiscent of the ones we used to have here back in the spring. Rin really did seem to be back to her old self, at least for the moment. As we finish the last of our hot chocolate, Rin says something I wasn't quite ready for.

"Thank you," she begins, taking another sip of her drink. "Lately it feels like I've been stuck in a pile of muck except when I try to get back up again my legs don't work and every time someone comes by instead of helping me up they just try to tell me to use my legs differently and when I try to think about how to use my legs differently my legs feel five percent less real than they did before they said anything so I try to just use my legs differently without thinking about them and that doesn't work either so I-"

"Rin!" Emi interrupts. "Breathe, please. It's okay."

Rin collects herself. "Sorry. I mean, thank you. I feel like you did all this because I've been sad and even if you didn't and it's just a coincidence I'm happy anyway."

"We're really happy you like it, Rin," I say. "We have been a bit worried about you lately, to be honest."

Rin seems to think for a moment. "I'm going to go home tomorrow, too. I mean, I think I will. I'll have to call my parents first. But I'm pretty sure they'll be okay with it."

"Oh, changed your mind about the portfolio?" Emi asks.

"I don't really know if there's a mind to change," replies Rin, "I feel like I was on a train and the portfolio was a station I stopped at. Except I had to push the train myself, and they wouldn't let me wear shoes."

She closes her eyes. "I can talk to my parents about it. Maybe."

"That's wonderful, Rin!" Emi jumps in, "But don't you want to go to art school? I thought you were really gunning to make it into a good one."

Rin looks up to the grey sky, as if searching for an answer to the question. Then she turns to me.

"Hisao, could you throw a snowball at Emi for me?"

I can feel the smile spreading across my face. "Gladly."

[Razoredge]

First of all, don't blame yourself, I'm still happy you did something for me. And to be fair, you surprised me. I expected, with such a prompt, to read something Hanako-related, but I was surprised, in the good way, to see that I was wrong, and for that, thank you. I'm quite difficult when it comes to Rin stories, ask Emo, he knows. But, to be fair, here, I liked it. The simple fact that Rin was happy at the end is enough for me to like it. It has some flaws, but it's not "as bad as you thought it was". I like it. I really do. This is a simple piece, but that works great. Thank you for that, I liked the reading, I liked the story, and I liked Rin being happy at the end. So, yeah, thank you for that, mate.

[Hacksorus]

First of all, don't blame yourself, I'm still happy you did something for me. And to be fair, you surprised me. I expected, with such a prompt, to read something Hanako-related, but I was surprised, in the good way, to see that I was wrong, and for that, thank you. I'm quite difficult when it comes to Rin stories, ask Emo, he knows. But, to be fair, here, I liked it. The simple fact that Rin was happy at the end is enough for me to like it. It has some flaws, but it's not "as bad as you thought it was". I like it. I really do. This is a simple piece, but that works great. Thank you for that, I liked the reading, I liked the story, and I liked Rin being happy at the end. So, yeah, thank you for that, mate.

Thank you, glad you liked it. A Hanako-related story probably would have better fit the prompt really, but I recently re-read Rin's route and wanted to take it in that direction instead.

Happy holidays, fellow Rin enthusiast!

[Mirage_GSM]

Interesting...
My first thoughts if I had drawn that prompt would probably have been either Shizune or Misha.

[Feurox]

Here's the link to my prompt for Brythain, nearly 2 years late! (Sorry Bry!)

A lengthy boy, so in its own thread. Enjoy!

An Empty Space Where a Person Should Go